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(Compliments of 



Qeneral J^wis Qass 



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1782-1866 



Privately printed 

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COPYRIGHT, 1916 
BY FRANK GRAY GRISWOLD 



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N looking through a box of old papers helong- 
ing to my great grandfather General Lewis Cass 
I found the following letters which I feel it a 
duty as well as a pleasure to publish as I be- 
lieve them to be of great historical value. 

The letter from General Andrew Jackson and 

the second letter from President James Buchanan 

are printed from copies in the handwriting of 

General Cass's daughter — my grandmother — 

Mary Canfield. 

Cass Canfield 

Cassleigh, 
Roslyn, 

June I, igi6 



Preamble and Resolutions Adopted 

AT A Meeting of the New York 

Historical Society 

Held in its Hall on Tuesday Evening^ 
June jp, 1866 



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HE following preamble and resolutions 
were adopted unanimously: 

On Sunday, the seventeenth day of 
June, 1866, Lewis Cass died at Detroit, 
in Michigan in the eighty-fourth year of 
his age. He was born in New Hampshire, 
in 1782, and when twenty years old was 
admitted to the practice of the Law in 
Ohio; to the Legislature of which State 
he was soon after elected. When our war 
with Great Britain broke out, in 1812, 
Cass was chosen to be Colonel of a Regi- 
ment of Ohio Volunteers and bravely com- 
manded the first American detachment 
which invaded Canada. Soon afterwards 
he was appointed Colonel, and then Brig- 
adier General — in the Regular Army of 
the United States. At the end of that 
War General Cass was commissioned to 
be Governor of the vast territory of Michi- 



4 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

gan. For the next ten years he was occu- 
pied in administering its chaotic affairs, 
in treating with its Indian tribes, and 
in exploring its Northwestern wilds, near 
Lake Superior and the Upper Mississippi. 
This conspicuous ability caused him to be 
selected as Secretary of War in 183 1, by 
President Jackson, who, in 1836, appointed 
him to be Minister of our Country in 
France. This station General Cass digni- 
fied until 1842; when he distinguished 
himself as an American by baffling the 
attempt of Great Britain, to be allowed to 
search at her pleasure, all the vessels of 
other nations which might dare to navi- 
gate the open ocean. On his return home, 
Cass was elected to the National Senate 
by the State of Michigan; and in 1848, 
he was nominated to the Presidency of the 
United States. 

After the election of General Zachary 
Taylor, Lewis Cass was again returned to 
the Senate of our Republic, where he 
remained until the end of the adminis- 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 5 

tration of President Pierce. Having been 
appointed in 1857 by President Buchanan, 
to be Secertary of State, General Cass 
held that office until i860, when he volun- 
tarily resigned it, and became, once more, 
a private citizen of the United States, 
after nearly fifty years spent in the service 
of the nation. 

During his long and varied career of 
official duty Lewis Cass was always ear- 
nestly interested in the scholarship of his 
country: — especially in everything con- 
cerning its history, and more particularly 
in the department which relates to its 
aboriginal owners. To his active friend- 
ship towards its commissioned Agent, our 
own State of New York is largely indebted 
for the rich collection of documents, gleaned 
from the French Archives, which now 
illustrate its colonial History. A sincere 
and unostentatious Christian this vener- 
able patriot and Statesman now rests from 
his labors of more than four score years, 
and is at peace. 



6 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

Be it therefore Resolved That in the 
death of General Lewis Cass the New York 
Historical Society loses one of its most 
worthy and most eminent associates: — and 
that while in common with our whole 
country, the Society sincerely mourns his 
decease, it quietly accords the sterling 
patriotism, official ability, scholarly zeal, 
and untarnished private character, which 
illustrates his lengthened days. 

Resolved, that an Authenticated copy 
of these minutes be communicated to the 
family of General Cass. 

Extract from the minutes 
Andrew Warner 
Recording Secretary 



Letter from 

Mr. Lewis Cass 
Member of the Ohio Legislature 

TO His Wife 
1806 

In reference to Colonel Aaron Burr and 
Blennerhassett 



Chillicothe, Dec. (5, 1806 

My dearest love: 

After a disagreeable journey I have 
arrived at this place and commenced the 
business of legislation. I am already grow- 
ing weary, and am anxious to return to 
her, who alone is present before me. We 
have been engaged in business, which is 
very important to Mr. Blennerhassett, 
and as you will be somewhat anxious I 
will relate it to you. The plan of Col. 
Burr is finally and completely develloped. 
We have received a private communica- 
tion from the Governor informing us, that 
Mr. Burr's plan is to collect about 1300 
men, to rendezvous at the mouth of red 
river and to proceed from there to Orleans, 
to attack the city, to seize upon the bank 
and treasury, and upon the artillery and 
to form an independent government under 
the protection of Spain. This plan has 



10 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

been communicated to Mr. Harrison by 
Mr. Blennerhassett, and Mr. Harrison has 
proceeded to Washington, with the infor- 
mation. We have passed a law, which I 
draughted, empowering the governor to 
stop the boats now building, and all others 
provided for that purpose, and seize all 
persons concerned. This letter will be 
carried by a messenger dispatched by the 
Governor to arrest Mr. Blennerhassett and 
stop his boats. 

A singular circumstance has made me 
acquainted with a member from the County 
of Trumbull, who is the man who con- 
ducted Mr. Wilson from New Connecticut 
to Steubenville in his crazy expedition. 
He informs me that he was standing in his 
door, and saw a man pass, whose appear- 
ance struck him as somewhat singular. 
He was soon summoned by the adjacent 
tavern keeper to examine him. He went 
and found Mr. Wilson just coming to him- 
self. He appeared to be perfectly in amaze- 
ment to find himself in that Country, and 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS II 

related to him these circumstances, which 
he was able to recollect. As it is now late 
I will take some other opportunity to 
communicate to you the whole of the 
conversation. 

I wish you would write me as often as 
possible. Tell me your whole thoughts, 
and how you do. Do you think of me as 
often as I do of you.? I don't think that 
anything will induce me to leave you 
again. I will write you regularly every 
week and give you an account of our 
proceedings. 

Remember me affectionately to your 
mother and the family, and God grant 
that no untoward accident may befall you, 
and that I may soon again see you is the 
sincere wish of him 

who will ever be 
your affectionate 
L. Cass 



Letter from 
President James Monroe (1817-25) 

1817 

General Lewis Cass was appointed Governor 
of the Territory of Michigan by President 
James Monroe in 1822. John Quincy 
Adams being Secretary of State. He was 
reappointed to this office in 1828 by 
President John Quincy Adams — Henry 
Clay Secretary of State 



Washington 
Dec, 2, i8iy 
Dear Sir 

I enclose you a copy of my message to 
Congress of this day. You will find that 
I have noticed some subjects, to which 
you cannot be indifferent, and that if the 
views I have taken of them were not sug- 
gested by what I saw, in my late tour, 
they were strengthened by it. 

I hope that you, and Genl McComb, 
have enjoyed good health since we parted, 
& that your families are equally fortunate, 
I found mine in delicate health, that is, 
Mrs. Monroe & our daughter Mrs. Hay. 
Their health has improved of late. 

How are D^". Delavan and the other 
gentlemen of our party from Detroit .f* 

with great respect and sincere regards I 

am dear sir 

very sincerely yours, 

James Monroe 

Give to Genl McComb, the purport of 
the message. 










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Letter from 

Louis Philippe 

King of France (1830-1848) 

1838 

General Lewis Cass was at this time 
Minister to France (1836-42) having 
been appointed by President Andrew 
Jackson 



Neuilly, ijtb July i8j8 

My Dear General, 

I return with many thanks the letter 
you were so good as to leave for me with 
General d'Houdetor. I have also to thank 
M'. Lewis, since the contents of his letter 
gave me such satisfaction that I red it 
over to the Queen & to my family. The 
general suffrage of the American Nation in 
favor of my son, is very gratifying to us. 
I only regret that he could not stay longer 
in America, but I will send him there 
again. In the first place, to express his 
gratitude & mine for the attentions of 
which he has been the object, & also to 
express the high sense I entertain of the 
recollections kept of me in America, & 
which were so kindly manifested to my 
son, k in the next place. My Dear Gen- 
eral, because my own experience has 
taught me that America & England are 



20 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

good schools; & that much may be learnt 
in that intercourse, which could not be 
acquired elsewhere. 

Believe me, Sir, very sincerely 

Your Affectionate 

Louis Philippe 
General Cass, ^c, ifSc, &c. 







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Letter from 

General Andrew Jackson 

President (1829-1837) 

1843 

General Lewis Cass had been Secretary of 
War (1831) during President Jackson's 
administration 



Hermitage^ July 8th, 184J 

My dear Sir: 

I have the pleasure to acknowledge 
your very friendly letter of the 26th May 
last. It reached me in due course of mail, 
and such has been my debility and afflic- 
tions, that prevented me from the power 
of acknowledging it until now, — and even 
now it is with great difficulty I write. 

In return for those kind expressions with 
regard to myself, I have to remark that I 
shall ever recollect my dear General, with 
great satisfaction, the relations, both pri- 
vate and official which subsisted between 
us during the greater part of my adminis- 
tration. Having full confidence in your 
abilities and republican principles I in- 
vited you to my Cabinet, and I never can 
forget with what discretion and talents 
you met those great and delicate questions 
which were brought before you whilst 



24 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

you Presided over the Department of 
War which entitled you to my thanks 
and will be ever recollected with the most 
lively feelings of friendship by me. But 
what has endeared you to every true 
American was the noble stand you took 
as our Minister at Paris against the Quin- 
tuple Treaty, and by your talents, energy 
and fearless responsibility defeated its rati- 
fication by France — a treaty intended by 
Great Britain, to change our international 
laws and make her mistress of the seas, 
and destroy the national independence, 
not only of our nation but all Europe, and 
become the tyrant on every ocean. Had 
Great Britain obtained the sanction of 
France to this treaty, with the late dis- 
graceful treaty of Washington so disgrace- 
ful to our national character, and injurious 
to our national safety in war &c &c then, 
indeed we might have hung our harps 
upon the willows and resigned our national 
independence to Great Britain. But to 
your talents, energy, and fearless respon- 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 25 

sibility we are indebted for the shield you 
threw over us from the impending danger 
[which] the ratification by France would 
have brought upon us. For this act of 
yours the thanks of every true American 
is yours, and the applause of every true 
republican; and for this noble act I tender 
you my thanks. 

I admired the course of Dr. Limo in the 
Senate, last Congress in urging his Oregon 
Bill, and I hope his energy will carry it 
into a law next Session of Congress. This 
will speak to England a language that she 
will understand, that we will not submit to 
be negotiated out of our territorial rights, 
hereafter. 

I hope your amiable family have united 
with [you] to whom please present the 
kind salutations of me and mine and 
receive for yourself assurance of my friend- 
ship and esteem. 

Andrew Jackson 

To the Hon. Lewis Cass 



Letter from 

President James Buchanan 

(i8s7-i86i) 

I8S7 



Wheatland 21 February 18 ^y 

My dear Sir — 

It affords me great pleasure to tender to 

you the appointment of Secretary of State. 
This it was my desire to do from the 
beginning, & I have only doubted in con- 
sideration of your age. I am happy, 
however, to learn from the most authentic 
sources that you are now as capable of 
mental labor & physical exertion as you 
were ten years ago. May Heaven grant 
you a long continuance of these blessings! 
I shall be happy to learn your willingness 
to accept this appointment; and in that 
event entertain not a doubt that we shall 
act together for the public good in peace, 
harmony & friendship. 

By this mail I shall offer the Treasury 
Department to our friend Cobb. 

from your friend 
very respectfully 
James Buchanan 
Hon: Lewis Cass 



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Letter from 
General Lewis Cass 

TO 

President Buchanan 
i860 

Resignation as Secretary of State 



Department of State 

Dec. I2y i860 
Sir: 

The present alarming crisis in our 
National affairs has engaged your serious 
consideration, and in your recent message 
you have expressed to Congress, and 
through Congress to the Country, the 
views you have formed respecting the 
questions fraught with the most momen- 
tous consequences, which are now pre- 
sented to the American people for solution. 
With the general principles laid down in 
that message, I fully concur, and I appre- 
ciate, with warm sympathy, its patriotic 
appeals and suggestions. What measures 
it is competent and proper for the Execu- 
tive to adopt, under existing circumstances, 
is a subject which has received your most 
careful attention, and with the anxious 
hope, as I well know from having partici- 



34 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

pated in the deliberations, that tranquility 
and good feeling may be speedily restored 
to this agitated and divided confederacy. 

In some points, which I deem of vital 
importance, it has been my misfortune to 
differ from you. 

It has been my decided opinion, which, 
for sometime past, I have urged at various 
meetings of the Cabinet that additional 
troops should be sent to reinforce the forts 
in the harbor of Charleston, with a view 
to their better defence should they be 
attacked, and that an armed vessel should 
likewise be ordered there, to aid if neces- 
sary, in the defence and also should it be 
required in the collection of the revenue, 
and it is yet my opinion that these meas- 
ures should be adopted without the least 
delay. I have likewise urged the expedi- 
ency of immediately removing the Custom 
House at Charleston to one of the forts in 
the port, and of making arrangements for 
the collection of the duties there by having 
a collector and other officers ready to act 



GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 35 

when necessary so that when the office may 
become vacant the proper authority may 
be there to collect the duties on the part of 
the United States. I continue to think 
that these arrangements should be imme- 
diately made. While the right and the 
responsibility of deciding belong to you, it 
is very desirable that at this perilous junc- 
ture there should be as far as possible 
unanimity in your Councils with a view 
to safe and efficient action. 

I have therefore felt it my duty to tender 
you my resignation of the office of Secre- 
tary of State, and want your permission to 
retire from that official association with 
yourself and the members of your Cabinet 
which I have enjoyed during almost four 
years without the occurrence of a single 
incident to interrupt the personal inter- 
course which has so happily existed. 

I cannot close this letter without bear- 
ing my testimony to the zealous and 
earnest devotion to the best interests of 
the Country with which during a term of 



36 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

unexampled trials and troubles you have 
sought to discharge the duties of your 
high station. 

Thanking you for the kindness and con- 
fidence you have not ceased to manifest 
toward me, and with the expression of 
my warmest regard both for yourself and 
the gentlemen of your Cabinet, I am. 

With great respect. 
Your Obedient Servant. 

L. Cass. 
To the President 

of the United States 



Letter from 
President Buchanan 

TO 

General Lewis Cass 
i860 



Washington^ Dec. 15-16^ i860 

Sir: 

I have received your resignation of the 
office of Secretary of State with surprise 
and regret. After we had passed through 
nearly the whole term of the Administra- 
tion with cordial friendship and regard, I 
had cherished the earnest hope that noth- 
ing might seem to disturb our official 
relations until the end. You have decided 
differently, and I have no right to com- 
plain. I must express my gratification at 
your concurrence with the general princi- 
ples laid down in my message, and your 
appreciation with warm sympathy of its 
patriotic appeals and suggestions. This, 
I value very highly, and I rejoice that 
we concur in the opinion that Congress do 
not possess the power under the Constitu- 
tion to coerce a State by force of arms to 
remain in the Confederacy. 



40 GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 

The question on which we unfortunately 
differ is, that of ordering a detachment of 
the Army and Navy, to Charleston, as is 
correctly stated in your letter of resigna- 
tion. I do not intend to argue this ques- 
tion. Suffice it to say that your remarks 
were heard by myself and the Cabinet 
with all the respect due to your high 
position, your long experience and your 
unblemished character, but they failed to 
convince us of the necessity and propriety, 
under existing circumstances of adopting 
such a measure. The Secretary of War 
and of the Navy, through whom, the 
orders must have been issued to re-inforce 
the forts, did not concur in your views, and 
whilst the whole responsibility for the 
refusal rested upon myself they were the 
members of the Cabinet, most directly 
interested. You may have judged correctly 
on this important question, and your opin- 
ion is entitled to great consideration, but 
under my convictions of duty, and believ- 
ing as I do, that no present necessity 






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GENERAL LEWIS CASS LETTERS 4I 

exists for a resort to force for the protec- 
tion of the public property, it was impos- 
sible for me to have risked a collision of 
arms in the harbor of Charleston and 
thereby have defeated the reasonable hopes, 
which I cherish of the final triumph of the 
Union, and the Constitution. 

I have only to add that you will take 
with you into retirement my best wishes 
that the evening of your days may be 
prosperous and happy. I remain, &c &c. 

James Buchanan 



THIS BOOK WAS ARRANGED 

AND PRINTED IN S E P T E M B E R • M D C C C C X V I 

BY THE PLIMPTON PRESS 

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